zinewiki

What do you guys / did you guys think about the Zine Wiki site? (If not familiar: it was a wiki dedicated to zines, with pages on specific zines, publishers, and distros, plus some article reprints.)

I know some people thought it had flaws, but I thought it was a great resource, and I'm still a bit sad that it was never resurrected after being hacked. I have thought about contacting Fall of Autumn/Alan to see if they might turn it over to the care of Zine World, to see if we could reconstruct it or if not, start it over... but I know I can't really spare the time myself to do the work.

Just curious: Does anyone else think it would be worth it? Does anyone else want to see it up and running again?

Replies to This Discussion

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AlanDistro said:

I do have a backup of the entire database. I've contacted numerous wiki users trying to find help in restoring the site, it's just above what I know how to code. If you know anyone who has wiki experience (and I don't mean just editing wikipedia, I mean installing and importing MySQL databases) please have them contact me: alan-at-fallofautumn.com

I'd love more than anyone to see the resource back, I spent months helping to build it with a few other dedicated others.

So. Now that ZineWiki is back online... Have any of you come by for a visit? We have a couple of people who are really active in making posts and edits and a few people who drop in occasionally to make changes, but that's about it.

One of the complaints I heard previously about the site was in regards to the lack of policies (ie, what kind of things should go into articles, when was it ok to delete an article, etc.), and we've been working to develop some policies and guidelines... We don't want it to be a top-down implementation, but we aren't getting any feedback or input.

I'm curious: How can we improve ZineWiki?

Do you use it? If not, what's keeping you from using it?

Is your zine listed? If not, why haven't you personally added an entry on it?

Do you just see it as something to be there when you need it? (Like when you're curious about a zine or looking for info on a publisher.) How can we make it relevant to you?

There's almost 1300 members of We Make Zines now -- How can we get even a 10th of you to be active contributors to ZineWiki?

Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. Pretty much anything I say here will come across wrong, so I'm leaving it at thank you.

That and yes, I use it. And I love it like a baby. If you need help with it, please let me know.

Actually, beyond that, I think I can help send people to the site. I'll print up some cards in the next week or so with info on how to enter a zine and distribute appropriately.

-- Kate (formerly of ZineWiki, etc.).

Jerianne said:

So. Now that ZineWiki is back online... Have any of you come by for a visit? We have a couple of people who are really active in making posts and edits and a few people who drop in occasionally to make changes, but that's about it. One of the complaints I heard previously about the site was in regards to the lack of policies (ie, what kind of things should go into articles, when was it ok to delete an article, etc.), and we've been working to develop some policies and guidelines... We don't want it to be a top-down implementation, but we aren't getting any feedback or input.
I'm curious: How can we improve ZineWiki?

Do you use it? If not, what's keeping you from using it?

Is your zine listed? If not, why haven't you personally added an entry on it?

Do you just see it as something to be there when you need it? (Like when you're curious about a zine or looking for info on a publisher.) How can we make it relevant to you?

There's almost 1300 members of We Make Zines now -- How can we get even a 10th of you to be active contributors to ZineWiki?

I need some wiki 101. I know how to edit a page... i have edited my own page there. But some things i can't figure out how to do at all, like spicing it up with pictures or my bibliography etc. I also want to add a page for my distro and add it to the active distros link, but i am at a loss. I am sure i can find the info online on how-to somewhere online, i just need to take the time to look. Perhaps this weekend.

I think it is a great resource and should stick around. Maybe just get the word out there more. Maybe i will make some small flyers to put with distro orders like, "Want to know more about zines? Visit Zinewiki."

Jerianne said:

So. Now that ZineWiki is back online... Have any of you come by for a visit? We have a couple of people who are really active in making posts and edits and a few people who drop in occasionally to make changes, but that's about it.

One of the complaints I heard previously about the site was in regards to the lack of policies (ie, what kind of things should go into articles, when was it ok to delete an article, etc.), and we've been working to develop some policies and guidelines... We don't want it to be a top-down implementation, but we aren't getting any feedback or input.

I'm curious: How can we improve ZineWiki?

Do you use it? If not, what's keeping you from using it?

Is your zine listed? If not, why haven't you personally added an entry on it?

Do you just see it as something to be there when you need it? (Like when you're curious about a zine or looking for info on a publisher.) How can we make it relevant to you?

There's almost 1300 members of We Make Zines now -- How can we get even a 10th of you to be active contributors to ZineWiki?

I have visited Zinewiki and browsed around, looking up a few old zines. I found Dwelling Portably, which was nice to see, even if the info on it was a bit spotty.

I think Zinewiki's a great idea and a great website with a lot of potential, but as to the of question *why* I don't visit it more often, the reasons are far more than technical. How much time in my life do I have to endlessly wander through ever-expanding, evanescent cyber-flea-markets/underground-museums, however fascinating? I guess maybe if I added it to my favorites list, I'd tend to visit it more often. I should do that soon.

I made a few posts to the Zinewiki discussion forum when it first came out but the fact that it was of a kind that could be "edited" confused me. I've gotten much more used to the idea of cyber-encyclopedia articles being edited, and I understand and accept that they've got protocols in place to prevent spurious editions and abuse, but the idea of a discussion forum, where *my* comments are edited, was and still is, just a bit too wierd. Like so many things on the Net, the whole thing discombobulated me, which may have been one reason I avoided going back and getting more involved. Of course, I could have been totally clueless about the process. Maybe it wasn't a "discussion forum", properly defined, that I was typing into at all!

I thought of editing the Dwelling Portably entry, but I realized how little "hard facts" I knew or remembered---date of first issue, original publishers, etc.---and how much time and effort it might take to get all that info together. I haven't dropped the idea, but there are so many other neglected projects I've had on the table for years---do I have TIME to research old zines and make entries on them, even minimal? Gianni says he's "computer semi-illiterate". I think I may be barely "quadra-Literate", so I'm not sure if I'd even figure out HOW to edit, or post, an entry, though it might turn out to be personally doable.

Why haven't I made an entry on my own zines? That's a question about my personal psychology. A few stabs at the question may be: (False) modesty? Laziness? The sense that few people would care enough to make the effort worth it? I guess it's something I might do if I remember it when a sudden burst of time, energy and focus comes along ;).

Many, most or all of the issues of Factsheet 5 and Zine Guide were done electronically. Do they exist on some disc or harddrive somewhere? Would there be any way of uploading all the zines that appeared in these massive review zines to Zinewiki from these electronic formats? I haven't a clue really, but I imagine it'd be a huge task requiring a lot of time, effort and technical savvy. The reviews would serve as "stubs" and "prompts" of sorts, for people who knew and loved the zines, to flesh them out with more and better details---assuming some sort of upload could realistically be done. Maybe it can't.

What *I* would like to see, as more of a papernet-inclined zinester, is some sort of printable version of ZineWiki, that can be printed off the Net, AND ordered via the USPS through a physical address. I don't know, maybe an annual edition or something? Could something like that be done, for the price of printing and postage, plus a little extra for the time and effort? Hey, I'd personally welcome a tiny print version, and would love pulling it out of my zine box from time to time, to read and browse, in my favorite reading position, reclining on a couch or bed. (Reading is a very "languid" exercise for me.)

So, to sum up, Zinewiki is great. I appreciate the time and effort of everbody who's revived it. I will try to remember to put it on my Favorites List, which may prompt me to visit it more often. But at this point, I'm not sure if I have the time or technical saavy to make any entries or do any editing for it. Best of luck in your efforts to recruit some help.

I remember back on Zine Geeks somebody said they had qualms about posting an entry for themselves or their own zine because it seemed kinda uncouth to do it yourself. I don't agree with that, but there could be people out there who are just waiting for someone else to add them or their zine.

I haven't edited anything on there since I did my own entry (whivch I should update because it's out of date by now) mainly because I am the only thing I am an expert on. Someone else knows every other zine better than I do so why post something that's only going to be edited by someone who actually knows what they're talking about?